``War{between him and the day}__Shou*

[CERO JOSEPHINE NINE]

--- CERO - NICOLETTE - CECE ---

"Y'know sister dahling, you give yourself some pretty good advice - like stay inside when it's this cloudy and dark out - but there's a slight problem with all this. And can you guess what that is? It's that you have yet to learn to actually FOLLOW that 'good advice'! Precisely why are we out here again? I mean, honestly, could we not have chosen a slightly more...clear, day to adventure outside?" The annoyingly whiny voice in the back of her head continued to rant and rave at her from the safe confines of her skull, unheard by the rest of the world. Her sister was at it again, complaining about every little thing that was 'wrong' with her 'life', and throwing a tantrum that could put any third year old to shame. Too bad that it was all in Cero's mind. Maybe if Nicci were actually bitching out loud, people would stop calling Cero the crazy one and finally understand why it was she did some of the things she did. Like yell at the empty air randomly, since that seemed to be the only effective method to getting her dead twin to shut up before she was driven beyond duration and jumped the nearest cliff.
Then, both of them would be very dead, and unhappy.

Clutching her sketchbook closer to her chest, the girl shivered slightly in the chilly air and wished briefly that she'd brought another coat with her. The morning was beginning cold today, and the fact that there was no sun to shed additional warmth on the earth proved unhelpful to stopping the falling temperatures. She sighed and pressed on; it was her own fault this time, choosing to come out this early, in nothing but a light jacket and jeans. Moby had left her some time last week, finally moving on to wherever it was her little 'friends' departed for after their business with her was done (and by business, she meant that she'd completed the paintings/portraits that they'd wanted from her). It was slightly odd and sad, to turn around and not see the red-headed boy tagging along behind her. He'd been mute and demanding yes, but he'd been company nonetheless. And now she was back to having only the voices of her sister and Cece to keep her occupied.

Finally, she got to where she'd wanted to be at: the flower beds, the one pretty aspect to this entire institution. After all, mustn't give off a bad first impression to the first-time visitors. She plopped onto the ground with legs folded neatly underneath her, not minding that the grass was dew covered and soaking her pants fabric, and that already her butt was starting to numb. The book fell open across her lap and was flipped to a suitably empty page. She hadn't thought to bring any colored utensils with her, so she'd just have to settle for drawing in black and white. Maybe it was better that way; much less to worry about. Clicking her pen to life, the girl bent over slightly, and began to work.
Nicci may as well not exist now, for all the attention that Cero paid her.

``Tag: Shou
``Status: Complete
``Words: 531
``Outift: Click!
``Notes: Huzzah! An opening post that doesn't suck completely!
``Lyrics: Amaranth - Nightwish
``Credits: Template (C) Lu L.

[SHOU TAKESHI]

- Shou -

The air was cold and pregnant with moister. Puffy dark clouds veiled the sky, obscuring the flat orange disk known as the sun. It silent all around, almost as if the institute’s garden was a haven untouched by time. A strong smell of perfumed flowers was everywhere.

Shou sighed, slim fingers playing with the frayed yellow pages of the old leather bound book. His back rest against the rough tree trunk, icy eyes darting all around him. He loved nature and being outdoors, even if he couldn’t stand the dirt and bugs.

It looked like it was going to rain any moment, but he was too absorbed in Mother Nature’s beauty to even care. His pale hair was plastered to his face, something that would normally bug the Hell out of him. But again, he couldn’t bring himself to care or break the fragile serenity he was feeling. When he was out here, embraced within Nature’s loving bosom, he could truly be at peace with his inner demons. Sitting here, pressed up against the tree, he couldn’t help but ignore everything but the feelings that it brought him. Out here and all alone, he could focus on everything and nothing. The cuts, the poisonous words, the foul hands. None of that mattered here.

He breathed in deeply, his greedy lungs pulling in the refreshing chilly air. His eyes slid closed in content, relishing in the coolness that licked at his skin invitingly. Another gust of coldness attacked his body, the worn leather jacket and threat bare white shirt barely keeping in any warmth.

His peaceful moment was disturbed by the sound of something plunking down on the ground somewhere around him. His body tensed and his eyes slid open, looking around to find the source of the noise. But he couldn’t find one.

‘Strange…’ he thought, eyes sliding closed once more.

He pondered about the queer sound for a moment or two before slipping back into his peaceful daze, forgetting completely about the weird noise.

"Tag: Cero
"Words: 335
"Notes: Hopefully I didn't do too horribly! lol

[CERO JOSEPHINE NINE]

--- CERO - NICOLETTE - CECE ---

At first, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary, and by that she meant there was nothing in the flower beds - or near them - that shouldn't have been there. Namely, the plants, and maybe the odd bird or squirrel. She sketched on, happily oblivious to a certain something that was sitting just a few feet away behind a certain tree that loomed right in front of her. True from the angle she was at, neither could see the other. But if she scooted just a little bit to the right, both were left in the open for the other to view.
It was actually Nicci who alerted her to the fact that they weren't as alone as Cero had originally thought. "My my my, would you look at that! Sister dahling, do stop your infernal pen scratching and take a look at those legs! Look familiar?" She could almost see her twin waggling her eyebrows at her, taunting her to glance at what the other was pointing out.

How had Nicci even found him in the first place? It just went to show that those dratted alter-egos of hers had a life of their own at times. Cautiously, the girl put down her drawing utensil and shifted so that she was almost parallel with whoever was behind the tree trunk. No, the legs didn't look familiar, but she had a bad feeling that judging by how they were clothed...sure enough, she didn't like what she saw.
A surprised scream found its way out of her mouth before she could stop it. Away flew her sketchbook to land somewhere between her and him, and away she scuttled in the opposite direction. Well, tried to at least. But her arms and hands had gone numb from holding the same position for too long - as had her legs - and the grass was still wet. So instead, all she managed to accomplish was flop onto her butt only a few inches from she'd started, and stare wide-eyed at the boy across the way.

He was shockingly blonde, but most obviously, unmistakably Asian. This small fact caused a frown to cross her face, briefly masking the outright fear that she'd been emitting. Cero had never understood why some people of her ethnicity dyed their hair such blatant colors that were not their natural shade. What was wrong with black hair in this day and age? It was funny: all the light-haired people wanted darker hair, while for those like her, it was vice-versa. You just couldn't be satisfied with what you had...But back to the problem at hand.
Now that she'd gotten past her slight pet peeve about the boy's hair, she was back to being the deer-caught-in-the-headlights. Hopefully she hadn't provoked him in any way with her reaction. If she had and he wanted to take some sort of action against her....she was a sitting duck. Literally too, if you please. "Way to go Cero Josephine Nine. Way. To. Go."

``Tag: Shou
``Status: Complete
``Words: 500
``Outift: Click!
``Notes: Psha! Is fiiiine! >3
lolz Poor Shou; having someone scream bloody-murder at him without even knowing him.
``Lyrics: Amaranth - Nightwish
``Credits: Template (C) Lu L.

[SHOU TAKESHI]

- Shou -

An ear-piercing scream jolted Shou out of his thoughts. His eyes snapped up and he wildly looked around to find out where it had come from. His skeletal hands rigidly clasped his novel, body stiffening at the thought of another person being near. Turning his head, Shou peered around the thick tree trunk. Immediately, the inklings of fear unfurled as his frosty eyes widened at the sight before him.

There, a few feet behind him was a Asian girl who looked startled and perturbed. She was sprawled clumsily across the dewy grass, her dark eyes wide in what Shou assumed was surprise. Somewhere in between them, a sketch pad lay deserted. Shou figured it was her's. His body heat spiked up like always when he was around others, sweat coating his skin as warmth bloomed in his pale cheeks. A lump grew in his throat and the apprehension of social contact with another ensnared him.

‘Look at her, she seems so shocked,’ he thought, eyes slowly returning to normal as he began to tremble. ‘Why is she here, how come I didn’t notice her? I bet she hates me…’

‘Of course she’d hate you,’ his conscience countered. ‘Who’d like a dirty whore like you? You’re nothing but wasted space, trash. She can’t stand you, she hates you, she wants you dead just like everybody else.’

He could feel the oppressive melancholy embracing him, plunging his frail mind deeper into a pit of despair. Of course she wouldn’t like him. Who would? He was worthless, and his existence was pointless. No one in their right mind would care for someone him. His body slowly stopped trembling as he fell even deeper into the thoughts he battled with daily. His hollow chest began to ache, a hairline fracture cutting through his already worn heart.

‘Look at her face, she’s disgusted to be near you. You’re an idiot for ever thinking that you’d amount to anything. How could another human being possibly care about you?’

The scars on his body stung, whispering to him with toxic, inviting voices. Calling to him, hungering for him to add to the collection. His shoulders sagged as he gave up trying to block out the malicious voices, everything withering away as he became detached. The flowers lost their vibrance, the fleshy petals becoming decayed and bleached in his eyes. Their once exhilarating aroma smelled like ash, clogging his senses. The world around him became obscured, losing all signs of life in his vacant eyes. The distress that fastened to his mind with infectious claws distracted him, and in his depressive condition, he was no longer mindful that there was another human being near him.

"Tag: Cero
"Words: 447
"Notes: lol poor Shou indeed! ^_^ But that's what makes it fun!

[CERO JOSEPHINE NINE]

--- CERO - NICOLETTE - CECE ---

At first, she remained tense and wary, waiting - just waiting - for him to get up and approach her in anger or something. But after a few minutes of sitting there, watching the boy, Cero began to notice that he didn't look very...well. Like he had a cold or a fever, and was about ready to pass out at any given second without warning. Now she may fear men, but she couldn't very well just turn a blind eye to someone who clearly was not safe to leave by themselves. Very slowly, and with many pauses and hesitations between each movement, she eased herself out of her sprawled position and managed to get into a crouched sort-of pose by the time she'd counted to thirty in her head. Once there, she stopped and stayed unmoving for a second longer, to see if any of this was about to provoke a negative response from the blond. With the 'okay' given - he hadn't showed any signs of coming at her yet - she ventured forward enough to pick up her sketchbook, then ceased further activity again. Still nothing from the other. Good, she could continue.

But here was where things got trickier. To see what was wrong with him, she would actually have to get close enough to him for her to be almost touching him. Not a notion that Cero was currently relishing, but she didn't see any other way out of the situation. Besides, she'd come this far, may as well go the whole distance. Steeling her nerves, she closed the gap between them in a few quick shuffles before her resolve could give way and she chickened out. The girl stopped about three feet away and dropped onto her knees, plopping her butt down onto her heels, her pad of paper lying horizontally across her lap. From this close of an angle, he definitely did not appear to be healthy. True most of the people around this place looked like this, but she'd never bothered to get into such close proximity with any of them before.

His hands were long-fingered and bony, unlike any guy's hands she'd ever seen, and the skin was drawn painfully tight across them. They were clutching a ratty old book so tightly she could see his knuckles nearly popping out. In contrast to their paleness, his cheeks were flushed, as though he were running a high temperature or had just spent hours doing physical activities. Considering how she'd found him, Cero was guessing more towards the first. "u-um....p-p-pardon me....but um......y-you.....I mean a-are....you....all-all-all right?" she stammered out, her own face flaming up a little in embarrassment at her stuttering. She couldn't even talk properly to another person, how lame was that? No wonder she didn't have that many friends. Nervously worrying the edge of a sheet of paper, she chewed on her lip as she waited to see how he'd take her impudence.

``Tag: Shou
``Status: Complete
``Words: 49o
``Outift: Click!
``Notes: I AM SO SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO GET BACK TO YOU ON THIS! DX
``Lyrics: Amaranth - Nightwish
``Credits: Template (C) Lu L.